The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1887-07-22

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AsnLAxD. ~, July l-ror the 1suEth
tine u - brisf >1tory ~ mining town
q Hurley, o The ooeeolc ranGo has besn
Waited w11h eGFiolo 1rA this tine -
sks almost total destruc<ion Of TIE town.
and The loss q nearly II not quite score
o. iives. While less thaa two week, aeo
tune -. Two blocks N ths business cen
ter were burned % the ground In - many
hours q . cost o. 00o00 Tue tract d.
v2stafo1 saturday was swarming with
worknen. and in : short time would hare
beea rebuilt On . much larger scale thaD
bef0gA
Ths worknen laid down their tools q
six o'clock and drew their weeks wages,
which TO hours later many % then
were spending a. the saloons down town.
Be<voon eight ard nine O'Clock the
Alcasar nsassr lager~bser hall and ~
riefy show On Main strost was swArning
with thess and other patrons. gamblers
and attaches Of The plaza
One Of The latter, ; waiter girl and ~
riefy-actrcss, went 70 To top loft Of tho
b1il1ing viii n oil lamp The lamp she
y pressnsd % have dropped. for almost
instantly sfser hes dissppearance from
~ lower nsr. 1sne Of nre shot sky-
ward fron ~ roef Of ths building. and
second latsr III structure was ablazs
from cellar mp a large building, but
like every thirg else in Hurley, construct
"a wholly Of rat pine. il fell N instant
prey - NE Gre
-. who. realizing their terrible plight
addsd their screams 70 the already in
describabls chaos, end through the glare
thcse wresched creatures were seen and
heard but FOR moment before the dlmes
folded on them and swallowed them up
Ths Alcazar stood for less than half an
hour
n sdjoining building was . grocery
abundantly stocked with coal oil The
groosry took 1ro On the instant and
barrel Of the oil was ignifsd and an en-
plosion followed, and the doom Of the
place w1s settlei-
The town Was built upon : north side
hin and extended from the Lake shore
railroad tracks, southward up 70 the sum-
nit cf ths range A street leads up from
the Lake shore station past the Burton
House . large hotel - the shaft Of the
0crnania nina lntersecting this street
q right angies, and running along the
bottom Of the slope east and west Is the
main street Wear the corner Of these
two thoroughfares stood the Aicaxar. 10
the south and east OF which, in . region
about third Of . nile square. lay almost
ne entire city.
ne wind blew sharply from the n orth.
west. so that The little city lay exactiv in
the pathway Of the hames. - they arose
from the Alcax2r buildinx after building
snccumbed Is the IRE marched east and
northwest Sparks and cinders mounted
O the wind and were sent far ahead with
the message Of destruction Every house
wss . wood box and courfed the fames-
The IRE department whose chief, warned
By the disas.e- OF last month. had RESORT
"a 70 daily training Of his forces vas
foun1 20 Be powerless in the general
made 70 work
Nor was this the worst Lake all min.
ing camps Hurley swarmed with tin horn
gamblers and rcughs long since banished
from more civilized communities 70 such
= these. Public disaster Vas private
feast Par from working TO help save the
city, they contributed 70 the spread Of the
destruction. carrying brands Of are into
buildings not yet touched. and taking ad-
vantage Of the panic 70 loot II large
Dcsens Of these sccundreIs were seen in
tie streets boldly replacing their worn
garments with suits Of clothes snatchci
FROM the shelves Of burning tailor shops.
No.h1ng escaped their hands They seized
bo<Ees Of liquor from the saloons ard
drank Till some OF them fell down IN
conscious in the midst Of The devastation,
And were b1rncd 70 death
Within an hour every thing in Hurley
east Of the street running up the hill Was
IN ashes. and the people. such - had
themselves escaped the fames, were
either wildly rushing about the edge Of
the ruin or else standing on the brow Of
the hill stupidity staring q the terrible
scene
ne Burton House. by great good fort
me, was barely saved though the flames
q one time croesed the street and got un-
der IL roof Many thus found shelter
Who must otherwise have spent the night
in the woods A Number Of those who
had saved some property from the Ore Of
two weeks ago were CHARTERED in the dis
trict. and By the second visitation lest Al
their possessionA
The financial loss viii reach nearly
half : million dollsn- Most Of the
burned buildings we're rude. but many Of
them contained valuable stocks, and soma
~ the saloons were extensively fitted
m
Nearly II not quite hundred and ffty
buildings were consumed Among these
were the bank Of Hurley and the Ameri-
can Express Company's o0oe. whose
safes are visible. upturned in the ruinS
a large church was also burned All
that rem aims Of the town - the Barton
Hotel and another smaller hotel, the Lake
shore depot and two or three new resi-
1erces on the very summit Of the slope
whose detached position saved them
There 3 no insurance, - all the COM
panies cancelled their policies immediate
" after the late IRE The Western U1ion
Dllce was destroyed and there Vas no
communication with fhis town, forty
miles away, until yesterday morning.
The conductor, Jones. Of the Lake Shore
train. which passed through Hurley q
Aaif-past seven o'clock yesterday morn
ing. reported the total destruction Of The
town - described he express agent On
The same train found tims % - about ths
ruisa He ssys thas o. the open street
was stretched In row twelve
bodies already taken from the ruins,
charred beyo.d reoognitioa- Uadsr thl
ruins Of ~ Alcanr. IN pile a Goals and